after my recent hg lip balm post, i've been hearing good things about the lip balms from Long Winter Soap Co. so i decided to give them a try when they announced a 20% flash sale on Reddit (following the unfortunate 'custom butt patches' incident - i do hope everything was able to be resolved after that!`).
ordinarily, the Long Winter Soap Co. website is easy to navigate and i like how they categorise their products by scent family, though unfortunately the lack of a master scent list (or at least, if one existed it wasn't that straightforward to find) made it more difficult for me as a first-time buyer to choose the scents that i wanted.
shopping was also given an additional level of chaotic because the flash sale attracted so many customers like sharks with blood in the water, so it was almost like fighting my way through an online Tsukiji market of scent. square after square of each product image showed up with 'sold out' superimposed over the top in a little white box, and each time i refreshed or attempted to check out, it was only to find that many of my choices had been snapped out of my cart (by others checking out their purchases) almost as quickly as i could shortlist and put them in. i'm not complaining, and it is a testament in some sense of how popular their products are, especially with a discount of that level.
shipping was calculated separately at the prevailing rates for international orders, though they do offer free domestic (US) shipping for orders over US$100. and the turnaround time from when i placed my order to receiving the shipping notification was 9 working days, which was quite good considering that it was already extended longer than usual to accommodate additional disinfecting procedures during this time.
i had a longer shortlist of stuff i wanted to try, but the ones that survived in my cart through the shopping pandemonium were:
- lip balm in Maple Bacon (When we were kids we used to freak out when maple syrup got on our bacon. Kids are stupid.)
- lip balm in Blueberry Crumble (One of the greatest things about Maine! Blueberry, brown sugar, and toasted almond.)
- lip balm in Blackberry Lavender (The lip-safe version of the perfume oil, this smells like sweet, almost-overripe blackberries, lavender, and a bit of black tea to ground it all.)
- lip balm in Lavender Honey (I know, sounds like a strange combination if you've never had it, but you'll just have to trust me on this one. The lavender trades in its floral side for more of a culinary personality, so think herbal tea loaded with wildflower honey.)
- perfume oil in Night Owl (Patchouli, lavender, and amber. We can't guarantee you'll wake up in your own bed, but we can guarantee you'll smell good getting wherever it is you end up instead.)
- perfume oil in Tide Pool (This is a fresh blend of salt air and beachy florals. Totally unisex, because the ocean doesn't know how to discriminate.)
- perfume oil in Cygnus (Very soft and dreamy, this one is inspired by the constant star-gazing story teller and named for my very favorite of Ptolemy's constellations. The blend is a big dose of night-blooming jasmine, followed by quite a bit of amber and a wee bit each of patchouli, frankincense, and rosewood.)
- perfume oil in Campfire (So this girl Julie comes up to the booth at a fair and asks for wood smoke perfume oil. Turns out she's the chick who hangs her clothes next to bonfires just to get the smoke stink all over them. I'm with ya Julie, and this one's for you! Sweet wood smoke and a little white musk and vetiver.)
overall i felt that the products are good value for money, though it's a pity that Long Winter Soap Co. doesn't offer sample or smaller sizes of their perfume oils for sale.
one thing that was a pleasant surprise compared to other indie perfumes and bath/body products that i've ordered before is the attention to product integrity - each and every single item i purchased was individually shrink-wrapped in plastic to protect it (and others around it) from any accidental spills or damage on its way to me. it wasn't any surprise then that everything arrived in perfect condition, and i'm looking forward to trying the scents and lip balms after they get a bit of rest.
==
this review is of perfumes that i had purchased at regular price with my own money. i wasn’t asked to review this as a condition of receipt and didn’t receive any incentives for writing this. i’m not affiliated with Long Winter Soap Co. and as always, all opinions remain my own.
Long Winter Soap Co.'s catalogue is available here. prices are US$5 for a 0.15oz lip balm and US$10 for a 10ml rollerball of perfume oil (before shipping).
all information correct at time of publishing.
Comments
Post a Comment